If you’ve spent your creative career solely in full-time roles, there’s a good chance you’ve wondered if you should chuck your job and jump to what appears to be the wonderful, unfettered world of freelancing.
It’s tempting, because today’s job market is about as stable as a toddler on roller skates. Layoffs are hitting creative teams with frequency and ferocity. Open roles generate more than 100 applicants minutes after they’re posted. Never mind that they also seem to require five arms, two brains, and deep experience (but not too much) in a narrow, specific niche.
Working for yourself seems like every creative’s dream. Until it becomes a nightmare. Let’s break down the pros and cons of full-time vs. freelance to help you decide which one suits your skills, sanity, and situation.
Full-Time: Tried and True Tradition
Pros:
• Stability (at least on paper): Regular paycheck, health insurance, 401k, paid time off. You can plan vacations without praying a client pays on time. And you don’t feel like you’re leaving money on the table by taking time off.
• Teamwork (makes the dream work): You’ll typically have colleagues to brainstorm with, a manager to advocate for you, and someone else to deal with billing.
• Growth opportunities: You might get mentoring, skill-building workshops, or that coveted thing called a “promotion.”
• Social interaction: Especially for the extroverts out there, being able to mingle with other people on a daily basis is invigorating.
Cons:
• Reduction-in-force roulette: Today’s big deal hire can be tomorrow’s line item cut. The market is turbulent, and even great companies are reducing great teams. Layoffs often take employees by surprise, especially when there have been no performance issues.
• Creative constraints: Depending on the organization, your big ideas might get run through 47 rounds of approval and come out blander than a plate of turkey and mashed potatoes.
• The 9-to-5-ish box: Everyone’s wired differently. You may do your best work late in the evening, which doesn’t align with a typical workday schedule and structure.
• Remote is in the rear-view mirror: Many large companies have instituted a five-day return-to-office rule, with smaller ones implementing hybrid setups. That means the savings associated with remote work, such as commute time, transportation, lunches out, and office-appropriate clothing, are gone.
Freelance: The Great Unknown
Pros:
• Freedom and flexibility: Want to work from another country? Take a midday yoga class? Only accept projects involving cats? You’ve got the power.
• Creative control: You get to choose your clients (eventually) and the kind of work you take on. No soul-sucking banner ad campaigns if you don’t want them.
• Income potential: You can out-earn a full-time salary, especially if you find a niche, raise your rates, and stay booked.
• You’re the boss: While you have to answer to clients when it comes to projects, you ultimately answer to yourself. And that means no office politics, hierarchies, or drama.
Cons:
• Feast or famine: Some months you’re a money magnet, other months you’re googling “how to turn a can of beans into multiple delicious meals.”
• You’re a team of one: You’re the HR, accounting, marketing, and IT departments. If you’re squeamish about prospecting for clients or tend to be unorganized, being on your own might be a challenge.
• No built-in benefits: Paid vacation days? Paid holidays? Paid sick days? Company contributions to retirement plans? All of those are on you, friend.
• Client wrangling: Not every client will respect deadlines, boundaries, or your rates. You may have to become a velvet-gloved enforcer of both, which takes time away from your actual work (and earning potential).
Which One’s for You?
The key is knowing yourself. And being honest with yourself. There’s no universal answer – it’s about priorities, the types of risk you’re willing to take, and how you handle uncertainty (and invoicing). You might even do both: a lot of creatives start freelancing on the side before going all-in, or switch between full-time and freelance depending on where they are in life.
To help you decide, ask yourself:
• Do I crave stability or flexibility more right now?
• Am I energized by structure or do I feel smothered by it?
• How comfortable am I with inconsistent income? Do I have a lot of debt that I’d be nervous I couldn’t pay off?
• Do I have (or want to build) a client network? Am I comfortable building that network and doing self-promotion?
• Can I handle the administrative side of freelancing or do I just want to create?
• Am I staying in full-time work because it’s perceived as safe, or because it truly suits me?
• Would I rather be the captain of my ship or part of a seasoned crew?
Whether you’re gathered in a meeting room with 10 colleagues or managing your own mini-empire from your home office, the goal is the same: do work you’re proud of, with people who respect your craft, and get paid what you’re worth. Which way you do it is totally up to you.
Want help finding freelance gigs or full-time roles that get you excited to open your laptop? We’ve got a few leads. Let’s get creative!
